The latest release from fugitive NSA leaker Edward Snowden shows that the National Security Agency used a website that looked almost identical to Facebook as a way to plant malware on computers.
The deception was part of a program codenamed TURBINE that would plant malware on computers allowing the NSA access to the computer’s microphone and camera without the user’s knowledge.
The report said that as many as 100,000 computers worldwide have been infected with the NSA’s spying software using the false Facebook page.
In addition to allowing video and audio surveillance of the computer user, the NSA would be able to track internet browsing history, login details and passwords for websites, keystrokes by the users and could corrupt files on the user’s system.
The report says the system is so sophisticated that many people will never be able to spot the fake website.
Fugitive NSA leaker Edward Snowden told members of the European Parliament that many more spy operations are yet to be revealed that could show major violations of the rights of EU citizens.
Snowden said he’s going to allow the journalists to whom he’s given classified information to decide which operations are released to the public.
“I don’t want to outpace the efforts of journalists,” Snowden testified, “but I can confirm that all documents reported thus far are authentic and unmodified, meaning the alleged operations again Belgacom, SWIFT, the EU as an institution, the United Nations, UNICEF and others based on documents I have provided have actually occurred. I expect similar operations will be revealed in the future that affect many more ordinary citizens.”
Snowden testified that he still loves the United States and that the government likely missed terror plots because they were busy collecting large amounts of information and not taking the time to monitor it all.
Snowden invoked the Boston Marathon attack in his testimony, claiming the Russians had warned U.S. intelligence about one of the bombers but the FBI did only cursory investigations.
A new document from the trove of NSA leaker Edward Snowden shows that the British intelligence services used webcams of Yahoo users to spy on them including taking nude pictures of users.
The GCHQ ran a program called Optic Nerve between 2008 and 2010 that collected images from Yahoo webcam chats and stored them even if the users in the chats were not considered targets of intelligence operations.
In one six month period over 1.8 million Yahoo users were spied on worldwide.
When the Guardian newspaper contacted Yahoo, officials were furious to find out they had been targeted by intelligence services. The company termed the action “a whole new level of violation of our users’ privacy.”
There are no restrictions in British law that would keep them from tracking Americans and storing information about them without an individual warrant.
The next time you walk into a building that is lit by an LED lighting system, you might not be simply walking into the light.
Newark Liberty International Airport’s new LED lighting system is actually spying on the passengers that come through the airport before they reach the gates. The lights include computer chips, cameras, sensors and Wi-Fi antennas. They collect data that police can scan in real time to look for possible problems.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, said the special spy lights are currently only in the ticketing area of the airport but they could soon spread to the rest of the complex. The Port Authority claimed the lights were installed as part of a plan to cut energy use within the complex.
The company behind the “NetSense” system says that while the idea of putting cameras on light poles isn’t new, the system they’ve developed is unique in that it is turnkey. Anyone can install the lights, plug them in and then observe through a computer.
Representatives on the House Armed Services Committee reportedly were “shocked” by the amount of information the NSA fugitive leaker Edward Snowden released beyond the NSA’s surveillance program.
Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas said that the information given in the meeting of the panel’s Intelligence, Emergency Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee was “very highly classified” and thus it could not be discussed in public. However, Rep. Thornberry said the lawmakers “left the briefing disturbed and angered.”
Rep. Thornberry said that the information released by Snowden “went well beyond programs associated with the NSA and data collection.”
Rep. Buck McKeon of California said that he would have to later release a statement because of his anger after hearing the news.
“Ed Snowden isn’t a whistleblower,” Rep. McKeon said. “He’s a traitor.”
Security critics are raising the alarm about a new surveillance system that can track all the citizens and vehicles in a small city at the same time.
Dayton, Ohio based Persistent Surveillance Systems has been demonstrating a system where a low flying aircraft continually monitors traffic and humans in a wide area. While the system cannot show individual details like hair color, the motion of the objects and their travel locations can help police and federal agents identify and track civilians.
The system does not require a warrant from a judge to be used for tracking an individual.
Defense contractors are working on similar systems for military use but the PSS unit is designed to be used by civilian sources as well.
Ross McNutt of PSS says that a single camera from their system mounted on the top of the Washington Monument would allow police to monitor and track every person and vehicle that uses or approaches the National Mall. He says the devices could help police make a significant dent in crime levels.
The National Security Agency “probably” has been collecting the phone records of Congressmen and Senators.
Deputy Attorney General James Cole admitted under questioning from lawmakers of the House Judiciary Committee that the NSA likely tracked the calls in and out of Congressional offices.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Ca.) asked Cole if they collected information from the prefixes used to call congressional offices.
“We probably do, Mr. Congressman,” Cole answered. “But we’re not allowed to look at any of those, however, unless we have a reasonable, articulable suspicion that those numbers are related to a known terrorist threat.”
While most security observers were not surprised that the spying had been happening, they were surprised that a member of the Justice Department admitted it so openly in a public hearing.
NSA Director Keith Alexander has previously told Senator Bernie Sanders that nothing the NSA did could be considered spying on members of Congress.
Want to spy on your neighbor? Want to see where your spouse goes in the afternoon? Want to peer in on the meeting at church you weren’t invited to?
Starting in June, you could spy on all of those with a personal drone you can carry in your pocket and have airborne and spying on someone within 20 seconds.
The “Pocket Drone” by AirDroids was seeking $35,000 from the crowdfunding site Kickstarter to launch their company. With 45 days left in their funding campaign, the company has raised $365,000 from over 800 backers seeking to get their hands on a personal spy craft.
The craft will be remote controlled either with a specialized controller or from a laptop, desktop or smartphone using the Android operating system. While the system only allows for 20 minute flights before needed a recharge, it can capture hundreds of photographs in that short time.
The system will also allow users to have a “follow me” mode where a mobile device with GPS can be tracked by the drone. If the user can hack a subject’s phone, they can program the drone or series of drones to follow a target.
The drone could also be used for real-time video surveillance.
The National Security Agency reportedly has been collecting up to 200 million text messages a day from around the world.
The NSA has used the data to track locations, contact names and numbers and details of credit cards. The program, codenamed Dishfire, collections information from phones en masse and is not targeted only at subjects of surveillance.
The information was released by fugitive NSA leaker Edward Snowden to Britain’s Guardian newspaper.
The presentation from 2011 on the program was subtitled “SMS Text Messages: A Goldmine to Exploit.” The report claims that numbers from the United States were “minimized” from the database but confirmed numbers from citizens in Great Britain were used in the tracking.
Mobile phone companies in Europe immediately protested the actions of the NSA in spying on their customers.